2015, Issue 2 March 31, 2015 HARVEY CANAL INDUSTRI AL ASSOCI ATION The Communique HCIA Career Exploration Tour INSIDE THIS ISSUE: HCIA Career Exploration 1 From the President 1 Government & Environmental 2 Special Events 3 Crawfish Sponsors 3 Membership 3 Café Hope 3 Office Space Rental 4 April 17, 2015 is our first Career Exploration Tour for select Jefferson Parish High School juniors and seniors. Workforce committee members will board a bus with students and travel to Host Businesses along the Harvey Canal. The students will be given a tour of the facility, an overview of the business, the types of jobs available, and the level of training/certification that is required for employment. Our Workforce Committee is excited about this new opportunity for the students and our members. Our goal is to bring awareness to students about the businesses and career opportunities that exist along the Harvey Canal. This program also allows the Host Company(s) a time to introduce themselves to the future workforce of the industry. Be a part of this Workforce Program. Contact HCIA today! Chair: Dr. Larissa Littleton-Steib, [email protected] UPCOMING DATES April 10 – Crawfish Boil April 16 – Executive Board NEW time, 8:00 am April 17 – Career Exploration Tour along corridor May 7 – Member Lunch TBA (check web) May 19 – HCIA Legislature Day, Baton Rouge *HCIA office unless other wise noted. From your HCIA President In our last Communique newsletter, we explained that HCIA would provide a particular focus on workforce development in 2015. At our February meeting, Jerry Bologna, Executive Director of JEDCO, briefed our membership on the mission of JEDCO and their Workforce Solutions Programs. He also provided an update of economic developments, and expansions projected for our area. On April 17th, our Workforce Development Committee led by Larissa Littleton-Steib will be conducting a Career Exploration Tour. Special thanks to our member companies for volunteering to showcase their businesses and participation in this important event. At our March meeting, Sandy Sanders, Executive Director of the Plaquemine Parish Port Authority briefed our membership on the Port’s Mission, targeted expansions, and the projected economic impact. He shared the upcoming opportunities resulting from the widening of the Panama Canal and emphasized the critical impact of rail, road, and waterway improvements to support the port. In particular, he explained that the Harvey Canal Corridor will be an integral part of that expansion. In conclusion, he stated that the success of the port will be measured by the ability of the region to transport products to and from the port in an efficient and expedient manner. (Continued on page 2) The Communique Page 2 HCIA President, continued Special Note: The Governor canceled the May 8 date. A new Gubernatorial Event is being planned for June. Visit our website for updates. Standing Committee Meetings are open to all HCIA members: Special Events has a meeting on April 8 at noon. Volunteers are needed for set up & cleanup for April 10 event. Workforce has a meeting on April 9 at 8:30 a.m. in the HCIA office. Infrastructure has a meeting on April 23 at noon in the HCIA office. Government & Environmental meets on dates that are convenient to the officials. Contact the office for upcoming dates. The Annual Westbank Governor’s Luncheon, was originally scheduled for May 8, 2015. However, Governor Jindal had to cancel and we are now working toward replacing this Annual Luncheon with another dynamic event to be held sometime in June 2015. Our business community is staying focused on many legislative issues such as: internet sales tax; reduction of personal income tax; and tax legislation involving the film industry. In addition, we are also monitoring crime legislation, including the utilization of Gaming and Lottery revenue, to fund the State Police in the French Quarter, and proposed sentencing reform. Thank you for your involvement and interest in HCIA. I hope to see you at the Annual Crawfish Boil on April 10th. Chris Breaux HCIA President GOVERNMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL The Government and Environmental Committee (G&E) has been busy on both fronts this year. We have formed a strong committee with great members. Here are some recent activities: Legislative Session As most of you already know, this year’s legislative session is going to be a tough one with a deficit of 1.2 to 1.5 billion dollars. Our committee has been trying to stay informed and is participating in the conversation with local leaders. G&E committee, HCIA past presidents and the HCIA board met with Louisiana Senator John Alario this month at the HCIA office. Senator Alario, the senate president, said that this will be one of the toughest sessions he has been in as a state legislator. HCIA attended the Jefferson Parish Green Book session in March, where Jefferson Parish outlined their priorities for this legislative session. The HCIA hopes to see the Peter’s Road Extension continue to be funded as a top priority, and we will also continue to monitor other issues such as potential education and healthcare cuts. HCIA is also going to Baton Rouge on May 19th to present our ideas during our Day at the Legislature. Any HCIA member is welcome to attend, but we need to RSVP with a head count so please contact the office if you are interested in attending. As always, please notify us if you see any specific bills that may affect the HCIA members. Jefferson Parish Councilman-at-large Chris Roberts graciously sat with our committee in February to go over the opportunities for the future of Jefferson Parish. He spoke at length on the West Jefferson hospital Lease and some possible future uses of the lease proceeds. We appreciated his time working on the lease agreement and look forward to meeting with him again on other matters. We plan to invite other Jefferson Parish Officials to these informal roundtable discussions as we continue to build our relationships and stay aware of key items that involve HCIA members. LDEQ Inspections Our committee was able to have a meeting with Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) about their upcoming inspections for businesses along the Harvey Canal and Engineers Road. LDEQ came to HCIA office and explained the need for these inspections and what a business should expect when they visit a location. (Continued on page 4) The Communique Page 3 Special Events – CRAWFISH BOIL Like the Energizer Bunny, The Special Events Committee just keeps going and going. The Crawfish Boil is on the front burner right now. April 10, 2015 HCIA Crawfish Boil We have DAUL INSURANCE and GULF COAST BANK as our presenting Title sponsors! The CRAWFISH BOIL is Friday, April 10, 2015. The mudbugs get tossed in the boiling pot right here under the beautiful oaks at the Grefer House (HCIA Home). There’s live music, drinks and over 200 friends to visit. The doors open at 4:00 p.m.; the music stops at 7:00 p.m. We hope you can join us! See the website for details. www.harveycanal.org Tickets are $25 in advance. Chair: Stephen Faucheaux [email protected] MEMBERSHIP th The major upcoming event is the Career Exploration Tour on April 17 . I encourage the membership of the HCIA to take a moment out of their morning to either attend the tour or meet us for lunch at West Jefferson Medical Center (RSVP required). We are very pleased to have Superior Energy Services, National Oilwell Varco and WJMC open their doors to these students. You just might get a charge out of seeing the reactions of the students to the opportunities in their own backyard. Your involvement will help in emphasizing not only the opportunities that are here and important to us, but that we want these students to become a part of this community. How does this impact Membership recruitment? The Career Exploration Tour adds value to your membership. It is a relevant effort. I want you to know that we look forward to growing the tour and adding corporate participants that are current and future members of the HCIA. Chair: Ben Bourgeois [email protected] Café Hope Cooking up Great Food and Bright Futures!! Café Hope is both a program for at-risk youth and a fully functioning local restaurant. Have you been to Café Hope? If not, Café Hope’s Board of Directors, students and its staff invite you to stop in to "feed your hunger and your soul." Located in Marrero and just 10 minutes from the New Orleans Central Business District, Café Hope can be easily found at 1101 Barataria Boulevard on the historic Hope Haven campus. Our task is to monitor area training programs and to engage in activities that promote the development of suitably trained work force for our members. Café Hope is a sixteen week program. The first four weeks in the program are spent in "Seeds to Success" where students participate in Life Skills training and other classes including culinary, financial literacy, nutrition, computer skills and more. Students also receive six weeks of training in the Café Hope Kitchen with 3 chefs having more than 30 years of combined work experience and six weeks of training in the Café Hope Dining Room. Café Hope is open on Tuesdays thru Fridays for lunch from 11 am to 2 pm and on Friday nights from 6pm to 9pm. On Friday nights, patrons can enjoy a Full Menu and the ability to BYOB. Reservations are strongly recommended for (Continued on page 4) Platinum Sponsors: Allfax Specialties A-1 Appliance Banner Chevrolet Boomtown Casino Dufrene Surveying Edward Jones Invest. Eustis Insurance Fifth District Savings Gucci1 Field Services IberiaBank Leson Chevrolet Marrero Land & Impr Marsiglia Construction Slattery Marino Roberts Westbank Optimist Club WorkBoat The Communique Harvey Canal Industrial Association 111 Grefer Lane Harvey, LA 70058 Mail to: The voice of the business community since 1946. Continued from page 3 – CAFÉ HOPE Phone: 504-367-1721 Fax: 504-367-8917 E: [email protected] We’re on the Web! www.harveycanal.org Facebook LinkedIn Twitter OFFICE SPACE Available @ HCIA We are offering the private office with restroom; share the conference room and kitchen space. Utilities are included! Contact Lisa for more Details. 367-1721 the Friday Night dinners. If you visit Café Hope, you are sure to have a great meal and you just may see some celebrities or community leaders. Locals have been enjoying this unique "seed to table" experience for nearly four years. Café Hope has over 200 graduates and many successes stories. Ninety-seven percent of its students graduate with a ServSafe certification and seventy-two percent of graduates have been placed in good paying jobs. The Café Hope program and its students need our help. They are reaching out to HCIA and the business community for support. They also have The Cars for Hope Program that accepts donated cars for repair by a group of dedicated volunteers. The cars are then available at a modest cost to Café Hope students. Everyone is invited to come out and support their next fundraiser, Local Food Festival, on Sunday, May 17 from 11AM to 5PM at Café Hope. There will be over 20 local restaurants in attendance, music, a kid’s area and for the first time a Car Show. Admission is FREE. All proceeds will support the Café Hope mission to benefit its students. Call Café Hope for more information on the program, catering services, or how you can get involved at (504) 756-HOPE (4673). Continued – Government & Environmental This was a well-attended meeting and we look forward to having more educational sessions like it in the future. We are putting together an environmental education program for members and welcome your input as we build these sessions. Environmental Calendar, please send me an email to be added to G&E Committee list. If you are interested in keeping up with the Government & Chair: Jesse Hoppes [email protected]
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